The Nickzilla AAR!

ROUND 4.3 1525 AD - 1645 AD

1525 AD

Somebody who should be treading very lightly around me decides to beg for technology:



Yeah, very smart. See you once I'm in Chichen Itza Asoka!

Two trebuchets lose their wooden lives, but Calakmul falls:



1560 AD

Next up - the Mayan capital of Mutal:



Quite a large garrison. They fight hard and they fight well, but the result is the same:



The editor of this post requests that you eyeball that Hindu Shrine. My money troubles may be over.

1570 AD

I'm sorry Sury, am I boring you?


Because you're boring me. Sod off.

Here's how you trade things:



Not terribly useful. I have a lot of cottages, but no production to build universities with.

1575 AD

Asoka offers me a good trade to make up for his stupid demands earlier.



He's still dead though.

1585 AD

The great artist Ling Lun is born in Bibracte.


woo. According to Chinese mythology, this guy invented music. According to my mythology, he's going to culture bomb the Mayan capital.

1590 AD

Firstly, I finish Steel. This is a very important tech for a conquest game. Cannons will rip any of my opponents units apart, so this gives me a tremendous advantage.

Printing Press is next, followed by Replacable Parts and Rifling. All good techs IMO.

Enough research & development! Back to the freaking killing!



Totally undevloped and size 4. Razed.

From the ashes of Mayapan (well, Bibracte) rises George Patton.



This guy was nasty. He commanded units in Europe during the second world war and slapped a soldier who was recovering from malaria around the face during a visit to a hospital. He's just the guy to go to sleep in Beijing and found a military academy there. (once I research Military Science, naturally)

1595 AD

What? TREBUCHET is evolving!

TREBUCHET has evolved into CANNON!

1600 AD

Ling Lun has arrived in the Mayan capital of Mutal. I love these culture bombs.

Before:


After:



BOOM! HOW YA'LL LIKE THAT?!?

...okay. That was officially the worst use of a great person ever.

1615 AD

Woot!



Roosevelt declares war on Suryavarman!!! Go Roosevelt!

A spy I had stationed in the city of Lakamha near the Khmer border is caught. I was going to bring down the cultural defences and capture the city with ease, but now I'll have to do it the old fashioned way.

1625 AD

Now this one is always good for a laugh:



hurr hurr hurr. Thanks guys!

1630 AD

A tempting offer from a stoned Roosevelt:



For now? No. But soon my friend.

He's annoyed with me now.

I also begin the old-fashioned assault of Lakamha. My best cannons have 94% odds against the nonsense inside.





Naturally it falls quickly, and I march straight to the city of Oxhuitza to the northeast.

A Mayan counterattack on Calakmul is thwarted, thanks to a passing cannon. Thanks to this cannon, a garrisoned longbow manages to kill two trebuchets, two macemen and a pikeman!

1645 AD

The crappy city of Oxhuitza falls easily.



Which sets the stage for this:



I'll get the rest of those techs from him later. Postgame coming up next.

Nice job, very interesting, very funny write ups. Keep it up, your AAR inspired me to do a random leader continents map that I feel I'm doing very successfully, so thank you.

Great ,great, amazing, great job. Did you already take capitulation? Because annihilation could've been a better choice. No other critiques here.

ROUND 4 - POSTGAME

Better late than never, here is the round 4 postgame!

This round was obviously great for me. I eliminated two opponents and I'm in a fantastic position to eliminate the rest of them as well. However, due to my slow start, the clock is ticking. I want to win by conquest, and I want to do so with a respectable score.

So my next order of business is to start knocking off my rivals as quickly as possible.

Now to the screens.

Firstly, the world as we know it:



When I noticed that Roosevelt had declared war on Suryavarman, I thought it was weird since Roosevelt is so much smaller on the main landmass then Sury. I think either those island colonies have given him the confidence to attack, or war against Sury was a desperation move.

I'm either going to invade Suryavarman or Asoka next. I can't decide which. Suryavarman is a larger threat, but he's fighting Roosevelt at the moment. Asoka is backwards and weaker, but is quite large and expanding peacefully.

I think I will declare on Sury first though. I might be able to fight them both if I keep my tech lead over Asoka.

Anyway, now for my cities, starting as usual with Bibracte:



I wonder what great person I'll get next? My pool is really polluted now.

Vienne:



God, Saladin's culture is really getting on my nerves. I can't do much about it either since I need all my culture in either newly taken cities or in my Chinese territory.

I'll just have to grin and bear it until Saladin's time comes.

Tolosa:



I put the Moai Statues here in the end. It isn't a very good city, but I didn't think there were any better candidates. Maybe Bibracte would've been better, but I only have space for one more national wonder.

I can't really think of anything else to put in B though, so maybe the Moais should've gone there.

Gergovia:



I regret putting an academy here so much now. Xian would've been a much better place. I just looked at what was making the most beakers and stuck the scientist there.

It's cool that I can waste great people, play crappily and still take the lead. It makes me feel as though I'm not long for noble now.

Saxon:



Once the site of a great battle against the foul Khmer, this is nothing more than a tiny cottage city now. I should get around to replacing that rice farm. It was pillaged by the Khmer ages ago now.

Verlamion:



I like this city quite a lot now. Hammers are a bit low, but it's quite wealthy. I'll have to remember to stagnate it when I get back on the game.

Xian:



In terms of wealth, this is the crown jewel of my empire. Notice how the beakers are almost as high in Gergovia, even though this city has no academy. If I get another great scientist, I'll seriously consider another academy here.

Durnovaria:


This city could've been a total disaster, but it's not bad. It contributes more than it takes away at present, and even has room for a sneaky specialist once it's maxed out its growth. Not bad for a tundra city at all.

Nanjing:



Just another boring cottage city really.

Beijing:



Beijing, Beijing, I love Beijing.

As you can see, I'm trying to live up to my promise of making Beijing hammer central, but it's more like culture central thanks to all the catfighting I have to do with Saladin at the moment. I'll have to remember to snatch that southeastern mine from Guangzhou next session.

Guangzhou:


This city is ok. It's annoying how I'll constantly be fighting Arabic culture here.

Shanghai:



I just like cottages okay? God, stop going on about it.

Calakmul:


The first of my Mayan territories. This city can make a simple living farming incense and working the few cottages in its radius.

Mutal:



I want to make this a good place for production, but I'd also like to make some serious money from that shrine. There are hills, floodplains and food for production, but there are developed cottages and obviously the shrine here too, so I can't really make up my mind. I'm leaning more towards production at the moment, since my nearest good place with hammers is...Beijing probably.

Lakamha:



If it ever comes out of rebellion, I got a goooood feeling about this one.

Oxhuitza:



I don't think this one will be up to much. I'll be able to give a better opinion after it comes out of rebellion I guess.

A quick plan for my invasion of Suryavarman:


The lines are a bit faint I'm afraid. The plan is to use two stacks to assault Rajavihara, then move them down to the double holy city of Nagara Jayasri. Then they split in two, and bring down Isvarapura and Angkor Wat. I anticipate surrender around then, but if not, I'll move the stacks south to take Angkor Wat and Yasodharapura. That will almost certainly do the trick.

I'm not really looking to take much land here. I'm only in it to win it now and will take surrender as soon as anybody offers it.

The ever critical power graph:


I'm suprised Saladin is still ahead of me, especially since I have cannons that he lacks. I think his power might be tied up in a big navy since I never see him fielding large armies. I hope he doesn't have millions of men just standing in Mecca. That'd be annoying.

Demographics:


It's good to be third in GNP. I guess I'm only behind Saladin and Suryavarman now. (soon to be only behind Saladin)

I'll still be quite far behind him though, even with Sury out of the way.

The rest is very good news to me. A lot of 1s.

Victory conditions:



If nothing else, I'll at least get a time victory here. I'm not worried about Mecca having so much culture since the city should be quite easy to knock down should I have to, given my close proximity to it.

And finally, the tech screen:



Saladin has loads on me now. Maybe I should attack him after the Khmer. The problem with that is that I have to haul my army all the way across the map and then back again if I want to attack Asoka or Roosevelt.

I think I'll finish up my business in the east and then head back to fight him. He can be a last boss of sorts.

Things are looking quite good, but Saladin is still a hurdle to my victory. I'll probably play a bit of the next round tonight, so I'll have a better idea of whether or not he can be jumped.

As always, thanks for reading, and I'll see you soon!

Ok. When you're done with this game, we can have a talk and figure out what we're going to do. Regarding this game, I would recommend going after Saladin next, since as long as you have cannons, whatever is backing them up is more or less irrelevant.

I'd say Sury, then Saladin. Sury is being dogpiled right now, so he'll be the easier target, and when you go after Saladin, you'll have two vassals to back you up. But you should probably use both your stacks for the assault on Yasod-whatever as he'll probably have at least a modest defensive stack in there, behind walls and a 100% cultural defense. Always use all of your main force when attacking the capital.

ROUND 5 - 1650 AD - 1790 AD

This round is cut short by my PC crashing repeatedly. I'm taking it in for repairs after posting this update, so it should be back in my hands by Wednesday or Thursday.

We see some action this round, with a lightning war and a few very important techs researched.

1650 AD

First things first, I finish Replaceable Parts.



I like this tech. Extra production for watermills and windmills is a tiny bonus, but quite good. Lumbermills are always cool to have for those low hammer cities that have loads of forest. Most importantly though it leads to rifles, which is my next technological goal.

After starting Rifling, I notice that Suryavarman is researching Physics. I love airships myself, but the AI just don't seem to use them very well, so their presence doesn't worry me too much.

I decide to upgrade most of my existing troops to riflemen before I attack. This will take a few turns of saving up, but it ensures my victory against the Khmer.

Meanwhile, I switch all specialists to merchants to save up some cash.

1660 AD

The great artist Dante Alighieri is born in Bibracte.



This man was a poet in the middle ages. I've never liked poetry myself, so I think I'll settle him in Guangzhou to fight Saladin's culture.

1665 AD



Yes. Ancient scrolls and stone tablets talking about guns. Are you guys sure this isn't some kind of prank?

I change my mind about George Patton. He was asleep in Beijing waiting for Military Science, but I'm going to attach him to a pikeman unit to become the medic for my second stack.

He's nearly a hypermedic. Look:


He only needs one more promotion!

1670 AD

Roosevelt boasts about proving that the earth is round. If he thinks that's important, that proves he's stupid.

1675 AD



hmm, give the guy I'm going to invade in a few turns a leg-up to Rifling? I think I'll pass this time.

In my quest to gain money to upgrade my military, I begin selling horses to Pacal for 5 gold per turn, and sugar to Asoka for 5 gold per turn.

Asoka is funding the war machine that's going to run through his cities in the not too distant future. I find that funny.

1680 AD

For some reason, Suryavarman wants open borders with me. Why would I do that when I have perfectly good spies?



Rifling is done, though I think Mao actually said "Political power grows out the end of a Celtic mace. Plus I smell."

Seriously Firaxis, this misquoting needs to stop.

Next up is Steam Power and then one of my favourite techs, Railroads.

Railroads will be critical for getting men to the front quickly. My empire isn't planning on getting smaller anytime soon after all.

But before starting work on either of those techs, I turn my science all the way down, so I can better afford to upgrade my men.

1700 AD

With this respectable stack:



I'm now ready to invade Khmer lands.

1705 AD



Replace "disappoint us" with "let us live" and you're about right Sury, you ugly little beetle.



Annoyed at the fact that Pacal won't trade techs with me (he fears I'm becoming too advanced), I attempt to improve relations:



It improves relations, but he still won't trade with me. I feel a pang of regret at not killing him and using him as a human brush (what do you think of when you look at that head dress?!?) earlier.

1715 AD

I lose a knight to a ballista elephant in a skirmish outside Rajavihara. A few others are attacked, but I lose no other men.

I strike gold near Bibracte! It's a specialist city though, so I wish I could strike food instead.

1720 AD



Rajavihara falls with the greatest ease. It has one of those new-fangled jails I keep hearing about.

1725 AD

I trade Steel to Saladin for Economics and Constitution. Why? Well firstly, he isn't going to trade it to Suryavarman because he hates his guts. Secondly, by the time I get to him cannons will be old hat. Thirdly, Economics is helpful for the extra trade routes and Constitution ensures that I'll be able to build jails to keep war weariness down. I'll also be able to research Democracy myself when some rat takes emancipation.

My spy in Khmer lands is caught. Can I have those open borders now by any chance?

1740 AD

choo choo!


chugga chugga chugga chugga, woo woo!

That's not the sound of a train, that's the sound Asoka makes when he passes Suryavarman in score. (burned)

Thanks to Steam Power, I discover two sources of coal in my borders. One is already mined and roaded. I have time to get the other one hooked up before Railroads are ready, but I'm not sure if I want to trade it to anybody.

1745 AD



Why couldn't this have happened in Guangzhou?!?

1750 AD

The great artist (grr) Mark Twain is born in Bibracte!



Some call this man the father of American literature. I call him the father of a golden age. I adopt Representation, Caste System, Free Market and Theocracy. Two of those were changed from the default civics. Having no anarchy is cool.

Amusingly, Suryavarman puts a lot of his men in the city of Hsung Nu, ready for me to attack it. If he paid any attention to the line I drew on the map, it'd be pretty obvious that I just planned on walking past it to Nagara Jayasri.

On the domestic front, I place a lot of workers on top of mines, lumbermills and quarries across the empire ready for railroads. I will usually build the rails anywhere they can increase production first, and then have workers go around in pairs connecting my cities.

I'll have to give the auto trade route improvement feature a go. See if they do anything stupid or not.

1755 AD


"Suryavarman has made peace with Roosevelt!"

huh? Why do you think he did that?


ohhh...


Believe it or not, Sury is ready to throw in the towel with this crummy peace offering. I take it, since I'm looking to finish this game as quickly as possible.

There's a problem though. Nagara Jayasri is being eaten by Khmer culture from every angle. I want to give the city back to him since it's useless to me, but I don't want the extra city to tip his population over the freedom cap. So what do I do?

It's simple. I just wait. Since the city can work no tiles, it will starve itself out. I use this time to build wealth with the few hammers the city produces. This breaks me even in terms of cost for a while. When the cities population is too small to bother about, I enter talks with Suryavarman about what he's willing to pay to have it back.

By the time the city has starved itself to 1 population, I will have taken more cities anyway, so he can regrow it and still be below freedom cap.

Despite my indifference to the lives of his citizens, Suryavarman is still eager to trade with me.

We begin a deal trading his bananas, gems, ivory and spices for my copper, corn, incence and wine. Being a vassal isn't all bad!

Roosevelt is next. Here's the plan:



Easy.

1760 AD

Asoka wants to trade Scientific Method and 80 gold for my Steel. Since he's my next target after Roosevelt, and very much backwards without my techs, I refuse.

1770 AD

Saladin offers me Scientific Method and 340 gold for Steam Power. This is a very good trade, but I decline. I'm beginning a tech trade embargo on Saladin, since the time for his invasion creeps up upon us.

1775 AD


WOO WOO! WOO WOO!

That was the sound of a train.

This tech is awesome! It adds production, increases unit speed and allows machine gunners, which will hold a city through virtually anything.

Every single one of my workers get working on railroads. I could've used a few more... I wish I didn't lose so many earlier now.

Anyway, next up is Military Tradition. I want to turn my knights into cavalry.

1785 AD

I size Roosevelt up for war:



Happy with what I see, I decide to declare.

I'm hoping for another quick victory here so I can move up against India ASAP. If Roosevelt runs onto his little islands and refuses to give up, I'm in for a struggle. I don't have astronomy, and my navy consists of one whole ironclad.

But if Sury gave up so easily, Roosevelt will as well. I'm almost sure of it.

1790 AD

I finish Military Tradition.



Military Science is next. I want blitz promotion cavalry!

Three annoying things happen. One will need an explanation. The other two wont.

One:



sigh.

Two:

My golden age ended!!!

Three:


This isn't annoying as such, but during the battle I lose what I came to nickname my "Final Destination Cannon".

In the film Final Destination, a few people escape a plane crash which they should have died in. From there on, they start dying in supernatural accidents.

Anyway, earlier when I was assaulting the Khmer city of Rajavihara, my first cannon had 84% odds to beat a longbowman. The cannon lost, I swore and I wrote a whiny footnote in my notes so I remembered to complain about it during the write-up.

However, my PC crashed a couple of turns later. The autosave was just before the assault on Rajavihara. This time, the cannon lived, therefore cheating it's intended fate.

Later, as I attack New York, we have the same situation. This time the cannon has 94% odds to defeat the longbowman. Guess what happens? The cannon loses.

Are there paranormal forces at work in this game? I sometimes think so.

I played a few turns after this, but my PC crashes again and the autosave takes me here, so I'll end the round now.

This took a little longer than expected, so I won't be taking my PC for repairs today after all. I'll see if it will behave today so I can get a few rounds in. Either way, it should be good by Thursday.

FINAL ROUND PART 1 1795 AD - 1852 AD

The last round of the game. We see more conquest, more mistakes and of course, the end of the first Nickzilla AAR. But what actually happens? Do I even win?

1795 AD

I begin the round by upgrading my knights into cavalry. I saved the promotions on the knights so I could get them blitz as soon as Military Science is done, but I lost them as soon as I upgraded the units.

1802 AD


Since I lost any units that can get any use out this tech, I refuse to talk about it. Sorry.

I start Combustion next, to hopefully get Flight and fighters eventually.

I split my stack between Washington and Boston.

1808 AD

Washington falls:



It's quite good! I think I'll focus it on espionage.

and uhh, throw that holy shrine down there with the rest of them.

1810 AD

Boston falls:



ugh. It sucks, but maybe I can improve it.

My worst fears remain unfounded, and Roosevelt decides to quit instead of retreating into his endless little islands:



Look how angry he looks! I can't look at that face for much longer.

So I do this to improve relations:


Already, I begin to plot India's downfall:



The lines are a bit wonky, but I don't think he'll last long enough to warrant my usual amazing lines.

1812 AD

Combustion finishes. I take a detour from Flight to get Democracy since some annoying little rats are adopting emancipation.

1818 AD

The great merchant Ibn Battuta is born in Bibracte.



Now, in real life this guy was a serious traveler. During the 1300's he saw virtually all of the Islamic world and then some, over a span of over 30 years. Keep in mind that back then, that consisted of territories such as north Africa, the middle east, eastern Europe, central Asia and the Indian subcontinent. and this was back when they didn't have buses or... erm... anything.

(summing up a person's life work after a brief look at Wikipedia is fun.)

Luckily for him, he won't have to travel so far in my game. I'm sending him on a trade mission to Delhi so I can run my science slider a little higher for a few turns. He can even get a train most of the way!

1820 AD

Democracy is done.



I adopt emancipation immediately, since the unhappiness is really getting on my nerves.

Next up is Corporation and then Assembly Line for factories and infantry.

1824 AD

Corporation is done:


Some dopes set my theatre on fire in Bibracte:


What on earth could they have done on stage to start a fire?

1826 AD

Ibn arrives at Delhi:



I don't know how trade missions work exactly. As far as I know, the money you get from the mission depends on the distance of a city from your capital and the population of the city in question. Sadly, I have no idea how either of these factors effect the amount you get from the mission.

Either way, I'm 2500 gold richer now. This should help to upgrade my men to infantry and run science higher.

1828 AD

I find a nice way to thank Asoka for all that money I just got from Delhi.


In the first turn of war, I capture three workers. I'll use these guys to build railroads in vassal territory so I can quicken the flow of reinforcements even more.

I also tell my first stack to move to my second stacks destination by mistake, which makes my troops backtrack one space like morons. This significantly lessens the impact of my declaration of war.

1832 AD

I capture the dull little city of Cuman, but forget to take a screen. I hope the curse of the forgetful AAR writer doesn't strike again...

I notice Asoka has riflemen and cavalry now. This makes him a much tougher opponent, but I'm one turn away from getting infantry so it won't be hard to wrap him up.

So yeah, he goes from very easy to hard to easy.

1834 AD

I finish Assembly Line. I decide to take Fascism next for the free great general.

Most of my production cities start on factories. My tech lead is getting quite large now.

1836 AD

Amusingly, Isoroku Yamamato is born in Mutal one turn before I get another general from fascism.



I probably don't need to explain who Isoroku Yamamoto was in real life. But I will explain what I'm going to do with him. He's going to build that long delayed military academy in Beijing, in preparation for the assault on Saladin.

I land a knockout punch on Agra:



Not even your famous fort can save you from me Agra!

1838 AD

I finish Fascism. Next is Astronomy, Scientific Method, Physics and Artillery. Yes, I did change my mind about getting Flight again.

Vercingetorix is born in Bibracte. He was the guy that led the Gauls in the fight against the Romans.

Yes, that's right. It wasn't actually Asterix. It' shocked me too.

He's going to settle in Beijing.

1840 AD

Asoka signs a capitulation deal while trying to catch flies in his mouth.



and he wonders why he lost the war? God.

Wasting no time whatsoever:



I flush hundreds and hundreds of years of friendship down the toilet by declaring war on Saladin.

So three Confucian states (plus a Hindu and a free religious state) dogpile the founder of the religion. I know two of my armies are halfway across the world, but I've assembled a smaller third army on Baghdad's borders. Hopefully they can get a head start on my other troops so I can save some time.

I turn my science down so I can upgrade my riflemen and any remaining melee units to infantry.

1842 AD


Now we're talking! I spot the first big AI stack of the game.

It's backwards, but this should be an awesome brawl. Bring it on!

1844 AD

Science goes back up. Saladin and I have a few minor skirmishes in both of our territories, but nothing major yet.

1846 AD

An awesome event comes a bit late:



ah well. Should come in handy for a while.

1848 AD



Scientific Method is done. Interestingly, all my monasteries only seem to have contributed about 20 something beakers to my science. This is going to make me think harder about where I build them from now on.

I make a trade with Asoka:


Asoka is officially cool. This trade isn't very good, but I'm just looking to save some time before my inevitable victory.

Stack 1 arrives at Saladin's borders. There has been lots of fighting, but no cities have changed hands yet.

1852 AD

Super vermin attack the grain stores in Nagara Jayasri:


I'm tempted to let them have it, but decide to pay since I'm rich and a higher population will get my score higher.

My second army arrives to join the fight against Saladin. All three of my armies are present, and Saladin's defeat is now set in stone.

End of mini round.

FINAL ROUND PART 2 1856 AD - 1874 AD

1856 AD

Artillery is done.



Flight is next, for awesome fighters.

1858 AD

Roosevelt begs for Physics and I give it to him. It isn't important at this stage. I decide to trade Liberalism for Rifling about 600 years after I first considered getting it to win the Liberalism race.

It's funny how things turn out sometimes.

1860 AD

I get a crappy event:



This is only worth it if you have no source of uranium and are obsessed with building nuclear things. I'm not, so this event is chucked into the 'dustbin of history'.

Damascus and Kufah fall after heavy fighting. I forget to take screens of either of them stupidly.

1862 AD

YES!!! WHO'S PUNY NOW?!?


A: It's Suryavarman.

Chengdu falls:



I was tempted to leave the city to Guangzhou culture, but reinforcements from my Maya and Khmer territories were passing it so I thought "why not invade this city and kill tens of thousands of people. Why not."

1866 AD

My last great person is born in Bibracte:


I use him to lightbulb the rest of Flight, figuring it's not a big deal that it only has one turn to finish since I can use the 'beaker overlap'.

You know, sometimes I feel as though I should be playing higher than noble. Other times I feel as though I should be playing settler.

Either way, Rocketry is next.

1868 AD

I make a trade with Asoka:



<3 Asoka

There's no point in doing this trade, but more techs = more points so it's worth it in a way.

I also trade Communism for Railroads.

1872 AD

Asoka begs for Fascism. Why not?

Something I've fantasized over for ages finally happens:



The best city in this game falls into my hands.



and what a city it is. Check out all those wonders!

Saladin gives me a reluctant round of applause as he signs the capitulation deal:



He goes straight back to pleased after he signs it. He's so adorable!

1874 AD

I finish my last tech:



and I finally win:



WOOOOOOOO! How many of you thought I wouldn't be able to do that after my start?

I enjoy the ending conquest cutscene very much. It's the first time I've ever seen it!

The traditional postgame will follow.

POSTGAME

That was quite a cool game, a bit of a rags to riches story. I really thought I'd be trapped in my crappy tundra spot for the whole game, waiting for somebody to come and kill me or documenting every step of Saladin's space race victory.

So, what went well?

Saladin stealing Mao's copper and the chairman's indifference to the copper near Xian was a major factor in this game. If Mao had copper, he could've counterattacked, or beaten my stack of laughter before it got to Xian. If he counterattacked he wouldn't have beaten me in the attack, but neither of us could really have gotten a killer blow, so the war would've dragged on and on leaving us both dead in the water.

Even at the beginning I looked towards diplomacy. I refused to pick a religion, just to see where the power would shift. This is done almost universally now, unless players intend to convert the AIs to their faith.

Just before Beijing fell, I decided to pick my diplomatic side. My choices were either Saladin, the Hindu bloc of Pacal and Suryavarman or Asoka. I chose Saladin, only because he had crossbowmen to fend off my macemen which made him a poor candidate for invasion. If I invaded him, I may have took Mecca, which would've helped a lot, but I would've missed out on all the tech I traded with Saladin over the years. I made the right decision, since the strength of the Hindu bloc had waned seriously by the time I got to them, making them both easy. I struggled more with Saladin than I did with Pacal, Sury AND Roosevelt.

My tech path was good. While the AIs were researching techs like Scientific Method, I was researching Steel, which took me from being just another guy with just another army, to the most powerful civ on the map. From here, things only got better, with Rifling, Railroads and eventually Assembly Line pressing my advantage even more.

I traded tech a lot, and thought about what I was giving to who. Granted, there were a few slip ups. I'm almost certainly Roosevelt was the one to give Asoka Rifling and Military Tradition which cost me a few men, but I never jepardized my advantage with tech trades. Early tech trading saved this game for me. If a few civs went on different techs paths, I would've been doomed from an early level.

My attacks were well organized. Before I attacked, I drew lines through enemy territory, cutting out the best cities quickly and giving new cities room to breathe and work tiles. Before any war, it's important to know which cities are best to attack, and which path you should take through them. (I obviously didn't do this with Mao, which as a previous poster said was more like a 'sightseeing tour')

But what didn't go well?

Firstly, the main thing that hurt me was a lack of workers. I didn't build enough of them, and I didn't build them quickly enough. My cities were stifled by working undeveloped tiles for far too long. I especially felt the sting of this with my poor GNP rating thanks to having no developed cottages.

A lack of precaution cost me a lot. I lost a city to barbarians which wasted lots of hammers in the early game. I also lost a lot of workers by having them too close to barbarian or enemy borders.

I wasted too many great people. A great artist, a great scientist and a great merchant were all wasted on poor assignments. I said this earlier, but players should always think long and hard, and check every city when they get a great person to make sure he can't be utilized anywhere more effectively than what the player has in mind.

My first invasion of Mao was poorly planned. Even though it turned out to be a minor success, with a little more planning and caution, I could've beaten him earlier, and finished the game earlier as a result.

My early tech path was poor. I could've gotten techs like Metal Casting and Alphabet much later (or much earlier in the case of Alphabet). Cutting these two out would've allowed me construction earlier, and therefore, a better shot at beating Mao faster.

There were a few slip ups in the army. In the second Sino-Celtic war for example, the lack of siege crippled my assault and I lost tons of soldiers trying to attack Shanghai because of it.

My attack on Saladin at the end was also quite poor. I tend to lose focus as a game nears its end, and I just send tons of superior soldiers into battle, in the hopes of overwhelming my opponents. If I had kept organized and stuck to my Baghdad plan, the game would've been won quicker, IMO.

Anyway, onto the usual screens, plus my score.

The charts will come first this time. Starting with the power graph:



Take note fellow civvers. The level of resistance Saladin put up was far higher than the level Roosevelt, Suryavarman and Asoka put up. (Asoka hardly even moves!) So if you do go to war with him, make sure you have a good travel network, and a well organized army.

Next is demographics:



It's funny how I still haven't managed to get first place in GNP. I forgot to check, but I suspect Asoka has it now. That'd obviously change once Mecca came out of revolt though.

I'm not sure why my exports - imports is so low. I thought my cities would've made poor trading destinations since a lot of them are too small.

I bet Roosevelt was first. He had the great lighthouse and tons of coastal cities.

Life expectancy is terrible. I chalk this up to all the factories my cities had towards the end.

Top cities/wonders:



It's weird how I didn't get a single one. I'd expect Washington to be up there, at least. I suspect they don't count if you conquer them.

The score:



This is an okay score. I think my top one is 69,000 or so.

I don't fully understand how scoring works. I'll have to look it up sometime. For now, it's important to realize that the more population, wonders, land and technology you have and the faster the game finishes, the higher your score will be.

Now for maps.

The world as it is (not as we know it anymore ) starting with the old world:



I only had my territory, China's territory and half of Maya's territory really. Most other cities are just there to keep the population of my vassals down. (exceptions are Rajavihara and Washington.)

Now the new:



Asoka and Saladin really threw themselves into colonizing the continent. It's a good thing the game didn't go on too much longer, or I would've been forced to sail over there.

Now for the cities. Starting with Bibracte:



My micromanagement really went to pot in the closing turns of this game. After I got rich, I forgot to change a lot of my specialists away from merchants, which explains why there's so many in this city.

But I have mixed reactions about the capital which I forgot to move. It's a specialist city with only five specialists, but it creates lots of beakers and wealth regardless.

It's not my best city, but it played a big part in my win. Put it that way.

Vienne:



With Saladin's cultural hand off Vienne's cultural throat, the city is finally growing into a respectable production/commerce city! Pity the game has finished and nobody cares anymore.

Tolosa:



Not very good. I could've done just a little more with it though, those specialists would make great workshops. Another example of my poor micro in the closing turns of the game.

Gergovia:



Before anybody says anything, I think that priest is a free specialist from the statue of liberty I captured in Mecca. But then again, wonders don't come online until the city is out of revolt do they? If not, I have no idea what the story behind that lame priest is.

Saxon:



Saxon has been a serious asset in this game. A lot of the men in my armies sitting in Mecca were Saxon men. The barbarians always get the best places.

Verlamion:



This is a great city. May I express regret at letting it be razed one more time?

Speaking of great cities, Xian:



It's amazing to think that taking this city could've made the difference between winning this game and losing this game. Look at that beaker count! That's without an academy, and with a gormless engineer.

Durnovaria:



This city is quite poor, but it made a few soldiers in its time, and as long as it contributes enough commerce to cover its bills, it's a decent investment as far as I'm concerned.

Nanjing:



Not very exciting. Never was very exciting. Solid amount of commerce though, which makes it good enough.

Beijing:



Could've been better, but made a lot of troops for the Saladin war. I planned it to be a wonder city originally, but I was too far behind in tech to make many wonders, and I wrapped up my business in the east sooner than I anticipated.

Guangzhou:



The culture central of Celtia. I regret never having the chance to flip neighbouring Chengdu. I almost made up 50% of the cities population thanks to this city.

Shanghai:



Dull as dishwater, but another solid commerce city.

Calakmul:



This city isn't very good. It has an empty spot where infiltrators destroyed something but I couldn't be bothered to fix it. It pays its bills and provides incense. Not much more.

Mutal:



This is one of those cities that you know will be good, but you spend so long building infrastructure in it, it sees no proper use.

Still, that city helped with my money troubles a lot thanks to the Hindu shrine, so I shouldn't talk down to it.

Lakamha:



This turned out to be quite a good hammer city. I made a few boats from here that helped in the fight for Mecca, and a few reinforcement troops to help in the wars against India and Arabia.

It isn't at full capacity at the moment thanks to the sickness. Those unirrigated farms are weird. I swear Pacal didn't have Biology, and I certainly didn't put them there. Maybe Sury made them for him? I don't know.

Oxhuitza:



As you can see, when this city isn't revolting, it sometimes makes stuff.

Rajavihara:



I was impressed with this city. It hardly lost any of its population when I entered, and only revolted once while it was under my control. It made quite a few hammers men with all those hammers, but I mainly built infrastructure to be honest.

Nagara Jayasri:



My evil plan to starve the city never came to fruition sadly. It's funny how it made that small square around itself to work.

New York:



This city looks better on paper than it actually is. The beakers and wealth are poor and the hammers are even worse. It'd get a few specialists eventually tho.

Washington:


Didn't revolt once, popped it's borders easily, contributed loads of beakers, espionage and wealth... yeah, this city rocks. Pity about the hammers though.

Boston flipped to Sury, so here's Chengdu:



What a pooey city. I'm glad Saladin was stuck with this instead of me.

and since Cuman fell to the curse of the forgetful AAR writer (flipped by Roosevelt and gifted to India) here's Agra:



Not very good. I would've razed it, but I wanted to upgrade my troops there during the Indian war. I never got the chance since Asoka gave up.

Kufah and Damascus are boring, and adding them would tip me over the image limit, so no picture of those.

and we've all seen Mecca, so no screen of that.

I also have a city called Yamama which I forgot I had and didn't screen. It was a little 4 population city Saladin gave me in his surrender agreement, based on the new world. It actually had good potential, with fish, sheep and uranium in its radius.

Now in terms of the next Nickzilla AAR:

The game will be played with the same settings this game was, with four differences. It will be epic speed, permanent alliances will be enabled, difficulty will be prince and THERE'LL BE TWO OF US!!!

Assuming we start before Friday, it will be my first prince game ever!

Unless anybody had any major complaints about the way I wrote this, it will be in exactly the same style as this. (except I'll hopefully not forget to screen everything next time)

I'm not sure if I'll do any afterwards.

But as always, thank you for reading, and I hope 'just another AAR' was fun for you to read.

Yes, it was fun. Enjoyed your quick info about the Great Persons. I would consider Dante something more than "some medieval poet" though .

Not a lot to say. You figured the main mistakes (few workers, poorly planned attack vs Mao) and fixed them.
City improvement could use some work. Bibracte's farms are actually supporting some extra water tiles? Just build cottages on the grassland. Now it has +5 food. With cottages over those 4 farms, it would still be growing, still supporting the specialists, but with much more extra commerce and some extra prod as well (from mature cottages under US).

Good job overall, I think you'll do well at Prince.

Congratulations Nickzilla! I see that you got your warmongering skills down pretty well, and learned the most important lesson of war- bring more siege! As far as when we can start the game, I'm free on Thursday from 12-17 local time, which is I believe six hours behind Greenwich's time. So, that would be 18-23 for you. Let me know if that works for you, otherwise what else will. Congrats again...

That sounds perfect Llama. Can you PM me your xfire username?

K. Will do.